Slowing Down
by StormQueen6711
Summary: ABSOLUTE SPOILERS FOR SEASON FINALE! Post-Fast Enough. Team Flash struggles to continue following the destruction of recent events and tries to move on and repair their city. Spoilers spoilers spoilers. Rated T just because that's what I always do. Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

_I am dying. That finale. Oh. My. God. It was the worst bestest finale ever!_

 _I literally wrote this 10 minutes ago soo I have no idea where it's going, but it's going. I needed something to get me writing and apparently, a tragic finale is the perfect cure to writer's block._

 _Fair warning: lots of spoilers, and also, I haven't read any comics... maybe I should do a John Barrowman and buy meself an encyclopedia? :D_

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

He was running. Running so fast. Faster than he had to in the Particle Accelerator. He couldn't stop.

The city was getting sucked into the wormhole. He had to stop it somehow.

Barry was leaping from one object to another so fast, climbing higher, and trying to save the city. Eddie didn't give his life for nothing. He would everything he could to make sure that not the entire city was destroyed. They could always fix it later, but you can't get food you'd eaten back out whole. That's what the wormhole was doing.

On the ground, Team Flash, which now more permanently included Dr Stein, Ronnie and Iris, were gazing up at the hole in the sky in desperation, hoping that their friend, brother and son would be alright.

They stood there, not knowing how much time had passed, holding onto the railings for dear life as the wormhole continued to devour everything in its path.

Gradually, slowly, it started to slow. They could see that because it was the one thing they were focusing on. It would have been safer to go inside, go somewhere more sheltered but they'd just lost Eddie. They weren't going to leave Barry alone too.

It started to get smaller. They felt hope grow in their chests. Would Barry be able to neutralise it after all? They could only hope.

Smaller. Slower. Smaller. Smaller. Slower.

The city was destroyed. Buildings torn apart. Cars crushed.

People hurt.

People dead.

But it slowing down. It was getting smaller.

After what felt like hours later, it was a tiny speck against the sky.

A small dark, electric peck. Then it was gone.

A lone figure falling from the sky.

Down. Down. Down.

" _ **BARRY!"**_

* * *

Yoo... what you think? Should I continue? Please let me know what you think!

Cya later!

Storm.


	2. Chapter 2

_This is a record for me! I'm sooo excited to keep writing, because I like you, have nooo idea where I'm going. So I look forward to taking this journey with you._

 _I would like to thank every single person who has read, favourited, followed and reviewed this story. It means a lot to me!_

 _Thanks to:_ Theflashaddict, cariie, Finola2, OWolfunderfullMoonO, Guest, silverwolvesarecool, WhimsicalWriter4, Guest, erynion _for being extra amazing and leaving those amazing reviews. Thanks so much guys!_

 _Sorry if this is a bit OOC - haven't had much time in The Flash universe, unlike other stuff.._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

The only reason that he kept going, struggling against the power of the wormhole, were his friends and family. The City that he vowed to protect getting destroyed down below him.

He could feel the fatigue creeping up on him as he struggled to maintain the speed needed to neutralise the hole. Going past Mach II and then trying to neutralise a giant, sucking hole straight after one another without any food in between was not doing his blood-glucose levels any good.

Despite the fatigue, Barry kept on pushing. He knew he could do it. Caitlin and Ronnie had just gotten married. Ronnie and Dr Stein are separated without any harm. Eddie had just given his life so that they may be safe. He was not going to fail them.

Slowly, much slower than he would like, Barry could feel the energy levels of the wormhole decreasing. Objects came at him from below slower. The circles he was running were getting smaller and tighter. He could feel the fatigue threatening to overtake everything. Threatening him with peace and rest.

Barry knew he couldn't stop now. Stopping now would be a waste of everything that they had done this past year. The lives saved, the relationships made. It would all be for nothing if he just stopped now.

All for nothing.

And so, he kept on going. Tighter, tighter, tighter.

Until there was nothing. And finally he let the exhaustion and fatigue take over. There was nothing else that could be done at the moment.

He felt himself fall and knew that the drop would be too much for his exhausted body to heal quickly enough but he just couldn't muster the energy to try and starting doing anything. Too late.

Until finally, the blackness consumed him.

* * *

" _ **BARRY!"**_

Team Flash, as Cisco and Felicity had dubbed them previously, watched in helplessness as the young man they had all come to know fell from the sky. For a second it seemed as though he was moving to stop the fall but then…

He was just falling. Arms spreading, flipping in the air as though he was nothing.

Just as he was about to crash into the ground away from them, there came a flash of orange light and a figure speeding towards Barry, catching him and running towards them at a speed that was just fast enough for them to be able to make out the outline of the figure but not completely see who it was.

After what seemed like hours, when it was in fact simply seconds, the figure arrived in front of them just to run back into STAR Labs.

Knowing that their friend was inside, they headed back into the Cortex as it was the closest and the only place that can actually be used in the further-destroyed building.

The group made their way inside just to see the figure in the tattered grey shirt gently place Barry onto the bed that was usually their medical bed.

"Eddie?" Iris asked hesitantly, her hand making its way to her mouth as she glanced at the figure still by Barry's bed.

He turned around and they could all see the red from the blood where he had shot himself earlier to destroy Eobard. But he was standing!

Caitlin rushed to Barry's bedside and began checking his vitals, ordering everyone away from the bed as she began her work of stabilising Barry.

"Eddie?" It was Joe that asked this time.

Eddie faced them with a confused look on his face as he began remembering the events of earlier that day. He should be dead! He shot himself! He was sucked into the wormhole! What's happening to him? The thoughts were running in head at an incredible pace as the group, minus Caitlin, continued staring at him.

"Joe. Iris."

Finally getting over her shock, Iris ran over to Eddie and kissed him passionately, as though she might never have another chance, the tears streaming down her face.

"How?" Eddie aimed the question at Dr Stein and Cisco.

Cisco remembered the words spoken by Barry a few weeks ago. "Impossible is just another Tuesday for us." He said simply before making his over to Caitlin and Barry. He had an idea as to what had happened, but wasn't sure. Dr Stein would be better at explaining it.

Without knowing what he was doing, Cisco stopped in the middle of the room for barely a second. But in that second he saw how Eobard Thawne was still able to survive in the future. How the Thawne family continued. He just hoped that the Imposter wouldn't figure it out as well and return for them again… Even though they had just watched him be erased from history…

This was making his brain hurt and so he made his way over to his two best friends to see Caitlin placing the IVs on the stand and hooking it into Barry's arm.

He didn't want to be a meta-human. He was happy being normal and with his machines. Why did Dr Wells always complicate things?

Beeeeeep….

The sound of the heart monitor flat lining incited an immediate sense of panic as everyone rushed to Barry's bedside.

"Barry!" Both Joe and Iris called. They'd seen enough of Barry's heart stopping on them for the rest of their lives.

"I don't know what's happening! He should be stable! I made sure of it!" Caitlin's voice betrayed her panic.

Ronnie pulled on her elbow and forced her to look at him.

"Take a deep breath, Cait. You can do this. Barry believes in you. _I believe in you._ "

With a small smile and a gentle nod of her head, Caitlin took a deep breath and refocused on her patient. He was now her patient, not her friend.

In that time, Cisco had run to check on the machine to make sure there were no faults in it while Joe was hovering over Barry, unsure of what he should do. In a normal case, he wouldn't hesitate with beginning CPR. But this is _Barry_ and it _wasn't_ a normal case.

"Got it!" Cisco yelled suddenly. "It wasn't keeping up with his heart."

Joe let out a breath of relief at that, knowing the extra damage that could happen with unnecessary CPR.

Caitlin once again ordered everyone away as she began treating Barry's numerous injuries, surprised that many hadn't even begun the early stages of healing.

Together, she and Cisco also managed to get Barry out of the suit. Cisco let out a small whimper at the state of it. The suit had multiple burns and singes, a few cuts all over the place, the comms were destroyed and so was the centrepiece.

At least their friend was still alive. Even if only just.

* * *

Further away, Joe and Iris were sitting with Ronnie and Dr Stein. Iris was clinging to Eddie as though reassuring herself that was in fact, still alive and there. Which she probably was.

It seemed like hours later when the two STAR Labs scientists stepped away from Barry's bed.

"How is he?" Iris asked just as Joe stood up.

"He's healing, but very slowly. Especially for Barry."

"What does that mean?" Joe asked. He'd seen Barry injured and be back on his feet in just a few minutes.

"It means, there isn't much we can do but wait." Caitlin told him, feeling his worry herself.

And so, they waited.

* * *

 _Was it good? Was it bad? Continue? Chuck it in the garbage? Let me know what you think please!_

 _Cya soon._

 _Storm._


	3. Chapter 3

_Another one! This is probably the fastest I've ever worked on the story. And no chucking it in the garbage! I'm too excited. Thank you for all your support guys, IT'S AMAZING!_

 _Thanks to:_ Ms. Perception, Guest, IShipIt87, silverwolvesarecool ( _I definitely agree with you!)_ , Guest, WhimsicalWriter4, walter, Annie Hawkclaw _and_ FancyFarmer1. _You're amazing guys! Thanks for taking the time to review!_

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Now that they knew that there wasn't much they can do to help Barry, the remainder of Team Flash gathered in front of the computers. They dragged chairs and other equipment to sit on as they finally began to crash after the adrenaline rush.

The silence dragged on for several long minutes. However, it wasn't as awkward as some expected. It was the type of silence borne of common suffering and they'd definitely suffered enough together.

"Can someone please try to explain to me how I'm still alive?!" The question finally burst out of Eddie's mouth as the curiosity of the rest of the group was peaked.

Cisco, Caitlin, Ronnie and Dr Stein glanced at one another, unsure how to answer.

"Well… We won't know for sure until we run some tests… but…"

Cisco picked up from Caitlin the rest of the theory. He was the one to think of the impossible when they were working with Dr Wells after all. It's what allowed him to be so imaginative with his creations.

"After you shot yourself, the wormhole opened again, right? Well, then you were one of the first to enter the singularity. At that point it would have been at its most energised point causing your cells that were still partly alive to become so energetic that they continued to protect your internal systems. Then, when Barry entered the singularity, well, I think that his electricity further energised your cells making them mirror his, but to a lesser extent." Cisco finished just to receive confused looks from Iris, Joe and Eddie. That regularly happened when he spoke out a theory whilst thinking about it at the same time.

Caitlin sighed with a small smile.

"What he's trying to say is that because of the wormhole and Barry's electricity while running, your cells were hyperactive, so they managed to heal you and still have enough energy to run faster than normal. Basically, I'd say you're a second generation meta-human now." Caitlin finished her explanation with a slightly apologetic tone as she glanced between Eddie and Iris who were staring at each other.

Joe ran a hand over his hair, a move he had recently picked up from Barry and one that he wanted to stop. He didn't have as much as Barry did after all.

"So he's okay? We just have another speedster in the family?" Joe asked with a smile.

Caitlin nodded her answer.

"Wait. If Eddie now has speed to some extent, what does that mean about Eobard or whatever he wants to call himself?" Ronnie raised the question that was on all their minds since the explanation but none had been wanting to be the one to bring it up.

"He's still alive. Somewhere out there. But he'll have a hard time trying to come back." Cisco's statement was once again met with confused looks.

"Cisco?" Caitlin laid a gentle hand onto her friend's shoulder trying to jolt him out of wherever his mind had taken him.

Shaking his head, Cisco simply got up and left the room.

"Cisco!" She called after him as he hurried even further away.

"I'll go after him." Ronnie pulled his wife (can you believe it? They were finally married!) back and made his way after his friend.

Knowing Cisco, Ronnie made his way down to the Particle Accelerator and found Cisco sitting on the floor near the big metal door.

"You know, I think I know how you feel. I wanted to be normal too. I was fighting against Stein for so long to be able to come back home but I was never strong enough to overtake him. We always did what he said to do. No matter how much I tried to fight against it." Ronnie put his head in his hands as he simply sat next to his friend, finally revealing what it felt like to be half of Firestorm without having any actual control over what they did.

"You heard what he said, didn't you?" Cisco asked without looking up. He didn't know why he was taking it so hard, two of his best friends were met-humans after all.

"It doesn't change who you are, Cisco." Ronnie knew this might be one of the fears on Cisco's mind. "You'll just be a more awesome Cisco… with a cool nickname." The mention of nicknames brought a smile to Cisco's face as he remembered all the names he'd come up with before settling on the perfect one for the meta-human they catch.

"I know… it's just how much of what I'd last year was actually influenced by it? And seriously, seeing through timelines… I dunno if that's dope or boring…" He finished with a small joke. It'd been just under a year since the explosion when he'd supposedly gained his powers, and yet it had never given a sign that it was there. But then again, he should've expected it. He was closer to the centre of the explosion than anyone else, except Ronnie that is.

Deciding that he'd spend more time exploring this new power of his, Cisco gave Ronnie's shoulder a pat before pulling himself up off the ground and extending a hand to his friend.

They made their way into the Cortex to see everyone was still in the same position. Caitlin gave him a hug as he made his way into the room before sidling up to her husband (again, she couldn't believe they actually got married!).

"I'll go get us some food. And Barry's going to be _hungry_ once he wakes. Anyone need anything from outside?" The questions was met with murmurs of thanks and shakes of the head as Joe made his way out of the building knowing that Barry was in extremely capable hands.

Once again silence captured the room as each person delved into their own thoughts, trying to deal with events of the day. It hadn't even been a day yet.

They'd need to fix parts of STAR Labs as it had been destroyed even further which was not a good thing. They need to play their part in the restoration of the city. That was going to take quite some time. They needed to make sure that Barry healed right. They needed to make sure Eddie wasn't going to be facing any adverse effects. They needed to help Cisco with his powers because there was no way Caitlin was leaving him alone to deal with it.

The list of all the major things that needed to be done, her worry growing at the difficulty of some of the tasks. She didn't realise that it was showing on her face until she felt Ronnie's warm hand smoothing the crease between her brows.

She smiled at him before making her way to Barry's bed to see how he was healing. She was pleased to inform the people gathered in the room that while he was still healing very slowly for Barry, he had begun the healing process already and truly, the only thing they could do now was much sure the IV was running and wait for their speedster to wake.

* * *

 _Who's a WestAllen shipper and who's a WestThawne shipper? As always, please let me know what you think!_

 _Cya soon. Storm._


	4. Chapter 4

_Another one! Wooopeee! Thank you to every single person who has read/favourited/followed/reviewed! It means a lot to me! And: I think WestAllen is soo bffkindacute and WestThawne is_ cute _..._ I can't make up my mind, _but I think WestAllen rules! To those who said SnowBarry, thank you, for telling me what you think! I really appreciate that!_

 _Thanks to:_ erynion, Don'tForgetToBeAwesome, theflash addict, walter, Guest, DaineQueentheNavyRaven, silverwolvesarecool, WhimsicalWriter4 _and_ IShipIt87 _for reviewing! It was great hearing what you think!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

It was three days later when the people still gathered in the cortex felt they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Their friend-slash-son was finally fully healed, thanks to his super-healing and the superior medical expertise of one Doctor Caitlin Snow.

During their vigil, they'd all headed home at one point, changed, showered, eaten but in the end, they always returned back to STAR Labs. The place that had both many happy memories but also some of their worst memories.

It was heading into the afternoon when Barry finally showed any sign of actually waking up. His heart rate increased and there was increased movement behind the eyelids. Only Caitlin and Dr Stein understood what she was saying. When he finally did, it was a comical sight.

Iris was sitting immediately on his left with Joe on his right. They wouldn't let anyone take those seats if they were in the room. Eddie was sitting next to Iris, who was still gripping his hand. Then Ronnie and Caitlin had their arms around one another, which Caitlin pushed off when she saw her patient gaining consciousness. Cisco was twiddling with something that no one knew was in a corner of the room. While his hands were moving, his gaze was glazed and looked to be far off, a place no one can see. Dr Stein was sitting in a chair, slightly further away from everyone. While he has come to care for the young scientist, he didn't know him as well, neither did Ronnie but at least they were closer in age.

Barry blinked up at the ceiling, trying to remember what had happened. His memory was foggy and his thinking was slow. Well, slow for him. He shifted and groaned as his whole body protested. That immediately jolted him out of his haze as he snapped back to reality to see his whole family and friends gathered around his bedside and looking down at him.

The question to him was: where was he? And shouldn't he have healed after what had happened? He doesn't usually feel sore after being injured and healed. This was new to him. Well, old but new. He was rambling inside his head. Lucky Felicity hadn't completely rubbed off on him. At least it was only in his head.

"What's only inside your head?" The question at him was sudden and his brain was still lethargic that it took a few seconds before he realised the occupants of the room were waiting for a response.

"Ummm…" he cleared his throat, "rambling inside my head. Does anyone have food? I'm hungry." The thought came quickly and spilt out his mouth as he realised how hungry he was. He glanced to the side to see a heap of IV bags strung up on the pole beside him. Surprising.

The typical-Barry response comforted everyone, especially Joe and Iris as they watched his slower-than-usual response. Chuckling, Joe made his way to the food they'd set aside for later or if Barry woke up. Whichever came first.

Shushing the crowd away, Caitlin began inspecting Barry, asking what he remembered and not surprised when he said running around inside the singularity. Asserting he was okay, she finally allowed him to make his way out of the bed. He stumbled and grasped onto the headboard, breathing deeply. He felt and arm snake around his waist and support his weight.

Barry glanced down and was slightly surprised to see Iris smiling gently at him. He smiled back, happy that she, once again, knew everything about him and there were no lies separating them.

He glanced at Caitlin, wondering what had happened. This had never happened to him before.

Not even after he woke from a nine month coma.

"You've been out for the last three and a half days. You pushed yourself way beyond your exhaustion point. Just give it time." Caitlin understood his worry. Barry's normal had already changed so many times, he didn't want it to happen again.

Slowly, much too slowly for Barry, they made their way to Joe and immediately, Barry's stomach rewarded them with a loud grumble. His face starting reddening as chuckles were heard around the room.

"Here." Joe pulled a chair and he and Iris helped Barry sit and he started eating.

Without noticing what was happening around him, everyone was staring. Surprised the amount and speed the speedster was eating. At least he still had a sign of his speed if he could eat all the food that was there.

"Ooops. Did you want?" Barry held out the box of Chinese he was eating to the others in the room, his mouth stuffed with food.

His offer was met with groans of disgust from the girls and Joe, who wacked his surrogate son on the head, reminding him of his manners.

"What! I'm just offering!" Barry grinned at the occupants before what he saw finally made sense to him.

"Eddie." His grin slipped of his face as he finally registered what he was seeing. "How?" He got up and made his way to the detective, the food having helped him further with his healing. IVs can only feed the Speedster for so long.

"I still don't believe it either. Cisco and Caitlin explained it, though." Eddie nodded to the two STAR Labs scientists who were standing side by side.

"Being pulled into the wormhole, the amount of energy in there at the start was enough to seep into his cells, regenerating some of them. And then when you went into the singularity, the electricity generated was enough to cause changes to the cells. Kind of like what happened to you but not as strong… Which means we have another Speedster which means… You're going to need a new name too!" Cisco began rambling about possible nick names for Eddie, figuring out what his speed was, whether the super healing was also permanent, if Eddie wanted to become a crime fighter by both day and night.

Barry and Eddie simply shared a glance before grinning at Cisco. Caitlin was shaking her head while Ronnie gave Cisco a high five. Joe simply sighed. Looking after one super-fast person was a chore. Now looking after two… Don't get him started.

"So, how fast can you go?" Barry asked as he grinned at the possibilities of having another person that may keep up with him to an extent.

"Dunno… haven't really tried it yet." Barry looked shocked at Eddie's response. It was the first thing he wanted to do when he found out he had a new power after the lightning strike.

"What!" Barry jumped up, stopped to regain his balance before making his way to the suit. "You have _got_ to try it out! It's _awesome!"_ Barry's excitement caught with everyone. They'd been too busy worrying about Barry, they hadn't thought about anything else.

"Let me just go get my stuff!" Cisco ran off to collect the equipment he, Caitlin and Dr Wells had first used with Barry.

Caitlin also hurried away as she gathered the medical equipment she needed, both for safety and for the experiment.

Naturally, the rest of the group made their way outside. There was no way they were going to miss out on this. And they'd all nearly lost each other, it was going to take a while before they were completely alright.

* * *

"Alright! So, here we are."

The group was gathered at the same place Barry had first used his power properly. Without running into a van.

Eddie was feeling self-conscious as he stood in the lycra suit that Cisco had gave him. It was Barry's. It was an odd fitting. The height Eddie lacked compared to Barry was made for in his broad shoulders. It was odd. That was all he could say about it. But he understood the necessity.

"Whenever you're ready, just run." Caitlin told Eddie as she pressed some buttons. The sense of déjà vu was heavy on the three original team members. But this was _so_ much better than the first time.

Caitlin had Ronnie. Joe and Iris were supporting both Eddie and Barry. And Stein, was well… he couldn't wait to go back to his wife. He'd been to see her in the last few days. But they agreed that until everything had slightly settled down, the two halves of FIRESTORM should be near one another.

Eddie nodded, shifting from one foot to another, nervous.

He made his way to the starting point and took another deep breath.

And then he was flying.

It was _exhilarating._

The wind was rushing by his hair and rippling around him. Everything sped by so fast. _It was amazing._ He knew he wasn't running as fast as The Flash. Especially now that they knew Barry could reach Mach II. But it was _fast_. It was _amazing_. And it was _so worth it._

* * *

 _Okkkiiess... Sorry if it seems as though nothing is happening. I'm trying to get it flowing. As always, let me know what you think!_

 _Cya soon!_

 _Storm._


End file.
